5 Ways A Carabiner Could Save Your Dog’s Life

by Jessica Dolce on April 3, 2012

Carabiners might be my favorite dog walking tool of all time. Why? Because no matter what equipment you use to walk your dogs – accidents happen and equipment fails.

I’ve seen dogs slip their shoulders out of Easy Walk Harnesses, whip their heads out of Gentle Leaders, back out of collars, and prong collars pop wide open. And when that happens…your dog is loose. Yikes.

That’s where carabiners come in. If you slap on a ‘biner, that failed equipment will still be attached to something else on the dog’s body (usually a flat collar) and your dog will still attached be to you and the leash. Carabiners are rad little dudes.

Here’s 5 ways to use a carabiner:

Connect the flat/martingale collar to the Easy Walk Harness or other body harness

Connect the flat/martingale collar to the Gentle Leader or other head halter (try a small carabiner, if the regular size is too heavy)

Connect the flat collar to the Martingale Collar

Connect the flat/martingale collar to the prong collar

Connect the leash to your belt loop or wrap the leash around your waist and secure with the ‘biner (it’s an extra layer of protection if you ever drop the leash when your dog decides to break dance at another dog).

To be more specific: Slide the carabiner through the ring on your dog’s flat (or martingale) collar and through the ring on whatever piece of equipment they are wearing, let’s say: the front ring on a body harness. Attach your leash as you normally would to the front of the harness.

Like this:

Now, if the dog gets out of the harness: your leash will still be attached to the harness (now dangling loose), because it’s attached by the carabiner to the flat collar. So your dog will suddenly have an extra few inches of “leash” in that failed harness, but ultimately, you and the leash are still attached to the dog via the carabiner clipped to the flat collar.

Another view (FYI: Boogie’s collar looks loose because he’s wearing a martingale collar – I coulda/shoulda connected the carabiner to the D ring of the martingale and his collar would then be snugger in this scenario):

If a carabiner doesn’t work with your equipment or you don’t have one on hand, at a minimum, you can try clipping your leash to both pieces of equipment. You can even buy a leash with a built-in carabiner from Ruff Wear.

So head over to a camping store and buy a good one – spend a few bucks – and it will last you forever. I have a lucky carabiner that I’ve been wearing for 14 years. I’ve lent it to people during dog training classes and afterwards, chased them down the street to get it back. I mean business when it comes to my biner.

*Team DINOS fan tip: choose a carabiner that locks (like the one on the Ruff Wear leash) for an added layer of safety. Thanks Rachael M.!

And one more reason to use a carabiner:

You can keep your keys on one and tell people you’re a janitor or prison warden, like I do:

Like this:

Related

or instead of using another piece of equipment on your dog you could TRAIN it to stick around. My dogs are off lead trained, I have a Jack Russell Terrier that I can call off a chase. Same with my Petite Basset Griffon Vendeen. I use a leash with them but the JRT can slip just about anything so shes off lead trained that way if she slips it she just sticks around.

why didn’t you just train your dog to not slip its equipment? I’ve seen too many off leash dogs that “stick around” that come to see my dogs – inevitably causing a dog fight or traumatizing my PTSD dog. “Oh, but she NEVER does that!” is the usual response. Keep your dogs on a leash. There’s a leash law in my state.

I own a reactive dog and I HAVE trained my dog to ‘stick around’ and to come when called and to stay when put into a stay, however, if another dog charges mine he WILL react to protect himself and there are FAR too many stupid dog owners out that think it’s OK to let their dogs just roam free and run up to every dog they see.

The biggest issue for me is more often than not it’s the person with the reactive dog that gets blamed for the dog fight instead of the person whose happy-go-lucky dog sticks its nose where it doesn’t belong, namely in the face or butt of the reactive dog! I too have had many situations where I’ve yelled ‘My dog is NOT user friendly!’ to the person whose dog is barreling at full speed to come ‘visit’ my dog and they were unable to call their ‘trained’ dog off. When my dog reacts they act like I shouldn’t be allowed to take my dog for a walk in public! MY dog isn’t the one that’s off leash and charging into the face of a strange dog – MY dog is the one that’s on leash (as per the laws of my town) and just trying to enjoy a quiet walk.

Why don’t you just move to a large farm where harming anyone else is not a possibility??? No sarcasm here (actually drips with sarcasm). Why add extra safety equipment to your car just train yourself to avoid any danger and never be involved in an accident!!!

They will “stick around” until they see my reactive dogs and chase them “just to say hi”. I called the cops on a person who would never keep their dogs on a leash and leave them outside unattended cause they would chase me and my dogs. There is a leash law in my area and I live in a city. Keep your dogs on a leash.

Himmel, I am surprised that you are on this site and recommending “OR train them to stick around off lead”. While I understand this is a great skill for any dog to have, we are all advocates of using a leash to protect your and everyone else’s dog, and since mistakes/freak accidents DO happen- and I have been on both sides of this, unfortunately- the carabiner is a GREAT safety tool. I use a gentle leader with a safety strap that connects to my dog’s flat (buckle, not snap) collar, AND a belt leash so he is double connected to me. I am also going to add a carabiner to my accessories, cause why not be as safe as possible??? I love my dog and I also KNOW my dog.. he is dog aggressive and I don’t want to put him in harm’s way any more than I have to.

Yes, I too was sure my dog was a master of off-leash obedience. That is until one day when she was off-leash in an unfenced park and a firecracker exploded nearby. She took off so fast that I lost sight of her almost immediately. She ultimately raced blindly across six bustling city blocks, and I only knew how to find her because people kept pointing me in the right direction. I was incredibly lucky to find her at all and, though frightened, unharmed. It’s been many years, and I still shudder when I think how close she must have come to being killed by a car or otherwise lost to me. It was a terrifying reminder that, no matter how well-trained a dog she may be, she is still a dog and can be unpredictable at inopportune times.

Sure, in a perfect world your dog would stay nearby even with equipment failure. But my world isn’t perfect. Very often, if I’m working with a dog in a harness or head halter, we’re training to help reactivity or aggression — testing an off-leash orbit is not a priority nor even an ethical option.

In addition, off-leash dogs are not only illegal in my area, but are a primary cause of the reactivity and aggression we’re often working to fix. Even if one’s dog would NEVER EVER cause a problem (and there is no such thing as never ever), a dog who’s been jumped before can absolutely recognize the difference between an on-leash and off-leash dog, and react. I’ve also seen cars swerve to avoid off-leash dogs which were staying fairly near the owners, but the driver couldn’t be sure of that. All in all, it’s safer for others around you to keep animals on-leash.

Himmel……Yeah, because if you are being paid to walk someone else’s dog that entails you also must train them to perfection *rolls eyes* This is called the “Notes From a Dogwalker” not “notes from a magical trainer than can make every single dog behave perfectly”. This is a fail safe in case a dog does slip out. A dog that “sticks around” is not necessarily a trained dog by the way. But bravo for trying to be a troll.

The biggest fail I see with Gentle Leader head halters is that they are not properly fitted. They are actually quite tight around both the ears and the muzzle. You should BARELY be able to get a pinky finger under the ear strap, which is literally RIGHT behind the ears (not halfway down the neck!), and be unable to pull the muzzle loop past where the nose begins. I’ve got several houdinis (and one liability) and have never had a dog get out of the gentle leader. When I worked at a pet store I always fitted the harness for the owner to their dog. When I’m out and about, I see too many GLs that are simply improperly fitted, just begging for the dog to get out of them.

I’d like to make a note here – for most average shape dogs, this might be possible or ideal. However, with some dogs, making that strap that tight affects their ability to breathe. The mastiff I walk, for example, starts making horrible old-car-motor-like noises if you try to tighten it that much; instead, I have it a bit looser, but have him on a front-clip harness (attached to the collar like above, since he has slipped out of it with his owners) and a double-ended lead (which all GL/Halti-wearing dogs should be on anyway; the potential for neck injury if they lunge on a GL alone are horrifying!).

Is it wrong that I’m laughing at the “old-car-motor-like noises”? I’m picturing you walking a beat up Buick : ) And you are 100% right – all dogs are different, so we have to come up with individual game plans for our dogs (and old cars)!

I had a gentle leader break at the ring. As I held onto the leash and the ring, my dog, who I had for only a few weeks, who was dog reactive, and who suffers from anxiety issues, took off after someone else and his dog. Luckily, the person was a friend of mine, and my dog only wanted to say hello to his dog, although the three of us did not know that as she was charging across a lawn towards them. All’s well that ends well, but why rely on luck? This trick would have helped tremendously. My dog is much better now, but I still plan on going to get a carabiner for her easy walk harness. I agree with Susan, keep your dogs on leash when out. Even if your dogs are friendly and well mannered, not every person, or every dog, out in the world appreciates dogs they way we do.

I agree about off-leash dogs, and I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I had a dog years ago that I could call off deer, and he didn’t care much about other dogs, but loved people. Just because he was never out of my sight didn’t mean he wasn’t a problem for someone with a DINOS. Now that I have a DINOS I have a different perspective. I’ve also had dogs slip out of Haltis but never a *properly adjusted* Gentle Leader. I think the carabiner idea is great, but do be sure to buy a good quality one. I walk two dogs together – one DINOS, one super-friendly escape artist. Rather than hooking their leashes to me – I have a bad back – I hook them together. If I fumble one leash, it’s still attached to the other. If I drop them both, I gives me a bigger target to step on. If I ever fail to get the leash back in time, my hope is they’ll go on opposite sides of a tree before they get too far!!

You should also consider screw-gate locking carabiners. Regular carabiners could be also prone to getting unclipped if the pull happens in a position where it’s pushing the gate in or weighting the gate out. I smiled a lot looking at your post, BTW. As a rock climber I thought I was the only weirdo using carabiners to take the dogs for a walk. 🙂 I also like using my old climbing harness to walk all 3 dogs at a time, clipping their leashes to the belay loop using a locking carabiner.

I bet as a dog walker you get all types of dogs, some trained to ‘stay’…or not…especially if you’re walking more than one dog at a time. 😦 Great idea on the carabiner. We use one in the little hole on the gate (where you ‘could’ put a combination lock, key lock, etc.) vs. using a lock…keeps the dogs (ours and visitors) from trying to let themselves out and it’s easy for everyone to use. Also good for hooking a leash around your waist (or a tree, or a pole) if you need your hands free quickly in an emergency (slip leash grip through carabiner, wrap around waist or whatever, and clip to leash).

Reactive dog or not (I have both) a leash and collar/gentle walker/whatever is a FALSE sense of security and control. Your dog should have a dead on, no hesitation despite the distractions recall. Otherwise reactive dog or not you probably shouldn’t be walking it outside a fence area. Too many people rely on a leash collar system as their first line of defense or control, it should be the second line of defense, you never know when things will fall off despite your best efforts.

I think working on recall is a great idea and really important, but having a 100% recall just isn’t something I see a lot of in my line of work (as a dog walker and shelter worker), so I think it’s important to provide tips that are easy and effective to use (like the ‘biner) to try to set the average dog and owner up for the best chance at safe, successful walks out in public.

I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was unwilling to put in the time and effort to teach a reliable recall….it’s just that in my particular instance we’re a definite work in progress and despite regular, consistent work, will remain that way for the foreseeable future…

Himmel #
“or instead of using another piece of equipment on your dog you could TRAIN it to stick around. My dogs are off lead trained, I have a Jack Russell Terrier that I can call off a chase. Same with my Petite Basset Griffon Vendeen. I use a leash with them but the JRT can slip just about anything so shes off lead trained that way if she slips it she just sticks around.”

For most of the DINOS/owners that I know, the problem isn’t the dog running off when the equipment fails. Getting him to “stick around” isn’t the problem. The problem seems to be that some asshat has allowed THEIR dog to rush up to us, resulting in the DINOS freaking out, which can sometimes cause equipment failure and can result in a fight, right there at your feet. How is ME teaching my dog a reliable recall (which is used to get your dog to come back) going to do me any good when my dog isn’t the one going anywhere?

And if you’ve managed to teach your dog to call of a chase, or to have a bomb-proof recall despite “distractions,” then congrats to you. But there’s a huge difference between teaching a fairly happy-go-lucky dog enough impulse control to listen to you at moments of high excitement FUN (like a chase) and trying to convince a former bait dog that another dog rushing into his face is just another “distraction” to ignore and to come back to you instead, then you are sorely misguided.

I attach the carabiner to my leash so if my dog is really freakin out I can attach him around a tree or iron fence. He weighs over 100 lbs and when he is reactive we have a heck of a time holding him back or running away.

Having had to work with a reactive dog, who when off lead is very social and well mannered but when on lead feels anxious and can be reactive, I know all too well how many DINO owners feel when it comes to dogs whose leads get slipped or equipment fails.

As an owner, though many may not feel this way, you are responsible for your dogs behavior and how your dog’s behavior affects other dogs and owners around you. If your dog slips their lead and comes running up to another dog to happily greet them face to face, the other dog may not take kindly to the intrusion of space, possibly resulting in a reaction or fight.

I’ve seen the prong collars pop open, the flat collars slip off and the buckle collars break open, not just in training classes but when out and about in the world. My leather lead has a carabiner next to the main clip slipped thru the twists to create a second attachement point. Taking the time in putting a carabiner onto your lead to back up your gear is just added insurance and a move in the direction of responsible ownership.

I have one on my keys and can clip them to my purse strap so they don’t get lost in the bottom. Have had it for years and love it. Thanks for the great ideas. Every level of security against a “what if” is great!

I’m really disappointed! I’ve been reading this blog on and off for a while and now I find you don’t have an issue with the use of prong collars? No wonder people are having issues with reactivity if they are using these. My DINOS is managed with reassurance, avoidance of other dogs and rewards for coping. A prong collar would scare the crap out of him and I don’t doubt make him much worse. Thankfully they have recently been made illegal where I live. Really people, lose the prong collars!

Lisa, if people are going to use prong collars (which they do), I want them to use them with a carabiner, so that if their eqipment fails, their dogs aren’t loose. The advice in the blog wasn’t just for reactive dogs either – it’s a tip for all dogs, using all kinds of equipment.

A prong collar, used correctly, is a very valuable tool while training a reactive dog. My dog has an extremely thick and furry neck. It doesn’t harm her, and actually makes it possible for me to take her out and get her the exercise she needs, and hopefully train her to a point where she won’t need it. It was a last resort for me, and suggested by one of my dog walkers who’s family raised labradors. She took to it like a dream (which makes me suspect that she might have been trained on it before I adopted her). I actually find it LESS cruel than the gentle leader, which she used to rub at until she had sores on her face.

and yes…Carabiners…the save for the failing prong collar. Just had THAT happen yesterday. Thank goodness she was triple linked! Excellent advice as usual.

And as for walking dogs off leash. It’s illegal where I live. I know there are plenty of well behaved dogs out there who would not bother my dogs but when I look off in the distance and see an off leash dog, how will I know that the dog isn’t going to bother us (friendly or not). I still have to change my route or run away and hide – just in case it turns out to be aggressive or an MDIF.

Oh yeah, I’ve gotten over confident with the belt loop clipping and I had two of my dogs rip them off. I use a dog walking belt for a little while until is just fell apart and I saw someone else’s belt fall apart as well (different brand/style). So now I clip to my belt loop using either the “biner” or a euroleash.and I use my hands a back up.

I also have barriers at my doors – inside and out.
They are opened-up exercise pens.
They won’t stop a door bolter, but they will slow them down. and it just reminds me to be aware when I’m going out the door.

Additionally, if the dog knows that outside of the door of the front door is another door, they aren’t as excited to get out.

Of course you teach your dog to wait at the door but I like the barriers as a backup.

Two other uses of the caribiner: one is to loop the leash around the stem of the seat when bicycling a dog. If you need to get the dog away from the bike quickly, it’s a quicker release than unlooping or untie-ing a leash. (say for a loose dog in your leash reactive dog’s face etc).
As a quick release for people in wheelchairs whose dogs are attached to them. Best to use a 7 or 8 foot leash (such as a Touch leash that has clips on both ends and at least 2 in the middle to allow shortening as needed. ) with this to give the dog more room to manoeuver through doorways etc.

You should also consider screw-gate locking carabiners. Regular carabiners could be also prone to getting unclipped if the pull happens in a position where it’s pushing the gate in or weighting the gate out. I smiled a lot looking at your post, BTW. As a rock climber I thought I was the only weirdo using carabiners to take the dogs for a walk. 🙂 I also like using my old climbing harness to walk all 3 dogs at a time, clipping their leashes to the belay loop using a locking carabiner.

Within a week of adopting my DINOS (a lab/chessie mix), we started calling her houdini. She can escape any crate, harness, or collar. She’s extremely noise reactive, so it can be dangerous on walks (4th of July is the worst). I use a prong collar on her. But she has gotten out of it once… So I love this idea. Even if it does come loose, it can give me the chance to grab her. And if she tries to pull out of it, she’ll need to get her collar off too.

I also had my girl microchipped. Some vets and shelters don’t check for the chips, but most in my area do. This is my just in case back up plan I hope to never need.

I see a lot of comments on here about “training your dog to stay put”… That is true and could and should be done, however.. Things can go wrong and mistakes can happen, no matter how well trained the dog is or how good the dog owner is. WISE people, especially pit owners, would take any precaution necessary to ensure the safety of their dog. We all know what can happen to a walk gone bad with our pits.. =(

This is such a great idea. We made our own leash years ago out of climbing rope , a twist-lock carabiner, and a regular carabiner (make a large loop at one end for the handle and regular biner to connect to your belt, car hitch when unloading and loading, or wrap around a tree and connect to itself, and small loop at the other end to attach the twist-lock biner to the dog). All rated to hold well over what our dog weighs. We hike a lot and take our lab with us, so having this rating has been essential in case of sliding down a muddy hill (this has happened). It never occurred to me to also use a biner as a back-up link to a collar. I think I’ll try an s-biner as it is thinner and can allow more room between his easy-walk harness and collar for regular usage. You can never have too many biners on hand! But from experience, there is one thing that can be the quick death of a biner: salt water! If you go to the ocean and use it, rinse it off as soon as possible or it will seize up and need to be replaced.

Just discovered your blog and I love it- not only for my reactive dog, but for the reactive dogs who I train.
One more use for a carabiner- I keep one on my belt and use it to tie off full poop bags during our walk. Keeps my hands free for leash control and treats.

My reactive dog got out of BOTH his gentle leader and martingale (which were hooked together). He and a neighbor reactive dog got in eachother’s faces but no one was hurt, thank God, but it was a scary few minutes. My solution, unless anyone has a better one, is to put a second, snug (non-Martingale) collar on my dog in addition to the first 2, this way I have something to grab if he gets off. still not 100% satisfied w/ this option. I have spent a fortune training him, but when he gets into the red zone all bets are off.

I am always nervous that my dog will escape on a walk. I use one of those things that they sell to walk two dogs, I attach one end to his collar and the other to his harness. Thanks for the great suggestion.

Awesome advice!! Recently my leash reactive dog snapped his leash going after another dog. He’s not that big – a 55 lb. Aussie mix and I was shocked! I’ll be going to pick up a carabiner so I have back up. He’s a rescue that was abused so while I’m trying to work with him to “stick around” I’d like to allow him to go outside and enjoy his life and not have to use a diaper. (I think he’s been through quite enough). And these folks with their dogs off leashes are quite irresponsible pet owners. At the end of the day, they are still dogs and the owners never know what their dogs will do -In spite of the best training (although they’ll never admit that). 😉

THANK YOU!! What a great idea! I have tried several harnesses, had them fitted by professionals, done the two finger measurement and more but our Yorkie mix at 13 pounds walks out of everything. I cannot use a regular collar it hurts his throat and he start reverse coughing. Sure he needs better training not to run away but I am not perfect and he is a social runner loves to play with kids,dogs and cats.. I have spent one too many fearful times searching for him after he has slipped of lead.
He is micro-chipped and I have GPS tracking for him but I would rather just keep him safe and me not frighted! and other dog folks happy too. Thank you again for an idea I can put to use as more insurance.
Not perfect

Thank you for this! I found a link to this article from dogs.kinja. com, and I could not be happier I did. While my dog is getting better at being off leash and staying near me, it’s a rarity. It absolutely terrifies me to think of her leash slipping off and her getting injuried. She is already vision impaired (lost an eye), and while she manages great, her blind spot can still be an issue when it comes to dangerous situations (cars, etc). Her leash has come unclipped in the past, and this is a great solution.

I understand your stress completely!! The relief this idea has brought to my daily walking is amazing. No matter what kind of collar or harness my little Jack was fitted with to my surprise he would slip out of them all and be off to who knows where. I can finally walk without fear – which we all know they feel.
No matter the training or equipment automobiles are bigger, faster and sometimes driven by people with distractions this is the answer for me.

I’ve always been afraid to attach my dog(s) to a waist belt due to back problems. Since I usually walk two together, I user the ‘biner to connect the two leashes. That way if I drop one, I usually have the other. If I drop both and they take off, my hope is they will go on opposite sides of a tree while I can still see them!